Itochu unit seals renewable energy deal with Google Japan
Itochu announced on Friday that it has inked a long-term power supply agreement with Google to assist the search engine business in meeting its renewable energy targets in Japan.
Clean Energy Connect (CEC), an Itochu portfolio company, will begin serving Google in 2024 and will deliver up to 72 megawatts of solar power by 2026, according to an announcement from the Japanese trading house.
Itochu invested in CEC in November 2021, citing the demand for renewable energy for generative artificial intelligence and data centre operations.
The carbon footprint of artificial intelligence
In recent years, the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized various sectors, promising increased efficiency, automation, and innovation.
However, amid the excitement surrounding AI's capabilities, a critical concern has emerged—the environmental impact of AI technologies.
According to the International Energy Agency, data centres currently consume between 1 and 1.5 percent of worldwide electricity.
A recent study conducted by Cornell University scientists discovered that training LLMs like GPT-3 spent an amount of electricity equivalent to 500 metric tons of carbon.
One of the primary contributors to AI's carbon footprint is the computational power required to train and run AI models.
Deep learning algorithms, a subset of AI, demand substantial computational resources, often necessitating large-scale data centres equipped with high-performance hardware. These data centres consume vast amounts of energy, sourced from fossil fuels, leading to significant carbon emissions.
However, the amount of CO2 emitted by these centres varies depending on whether their base country generates electricity using coal, gas, or renewable energy.
In a report backed by Microsoft and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, researchers showed that shifting an AI's training location might reduce CO2 emissions by 75%.
AI training is the process of teaching an artificial intelligence (AI) model to do a certain task or set of tasks by exposing it to a large amount of data.
KEEPING THE ENERGY INDUSTRY CONNECTED
Subscribe to our newsletter and get the best of Energy Connects directly to your inbox each week.
By subscribing, you agree to the processing of your personal data by dmg events as described in the Privacy Policy.
More technology news
![ADNOC Deploys AIQ's Robowell AI Solution In Offshore Operations 2](/media/ve4it4cv/adnoc-deploys-aiq-s-robowell-ai-solution-in-offshore-operations-2.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=133651698997170000&format=webp)
ADNOC deploys AIQ’s world-first RoboWell AI solution in offshore operations
![ADNOC And E& 5G Network L R Masood Sharif Mahmood (E&); Hatem Dowidar; H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber; H.E. Jassem Alzaabi; Yaser Almazrouei (ADNOC) 1](/media/0smd2raa/adnoc-and-e-5g-network-l-r-masood-sharif-mahmood-e-hatem-dowidar-h-e-dr-sultan-al-jaber-h-e-jassem-alzaabi-yaser-almazrouei-adnoc-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=133644720097300000&format=webp)
ADNOC and e& to build the energy industry’s largest private 5G wireless network
![Digital Drilling](/media/qkah4ejx/digital-drilling.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=132786727909600000&format=webp)
SLB and TotalEnergies announce a 10-year partnership for next-generation digital solutions
![Baker Hughes Facility](/media/m5zpw3vv/baker-hughes-facility.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=132682956530870000&format=webp)
Baker Hughes secures multi-year agreement with Woodside Energy for Australian LNG support
![AIQ Halliburton Ienergy](/media/trydghcb/aiq-halliburton-ienergy.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=133642985761770000&format=webp)
AIQ and Halliburton’s Landmark announce Global iEnergy agreement for RoboWell solution
![Cgi Discovery Subsea Lit](/media/it4b4vlu/cgi-discovery-subsea-lit.jpeg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=132600253303530000&format=webp)
SLB OneSubsea awarded contract by Equinor for groundbreaking all-electric subsea project
![Geothermal](/media/gl0jxcfe/geothermal.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=133131403145600000&format=webp)
Harnessing the Earth’s heat: US DOE and Google step up geothermal investments
![renewable energy news for Energy Connects](/media/04edzab0/co2-web-14385.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=132761034292600000&format=webp)
DNV to set standards for crucial CO2 flow metre traceability and accuracy in CCUS
![The Intelligent LNG Value Chain – Increasing LNG Delivered Capacity and Decarbonization with Digitization.jpg](/media/uy5lv03o/the-intelligent-lng-value-chain-increasing-lng-delivered-capacity-and-decarbonization-with-digitization.jpg?mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=133440405832900000&format=webp)
Viridien selected for major seismic imaging project by Groupement Berkine
![Hitachi Energy Transition](/media/nsracli3/hitachi-energy-transition.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=240&height=135&rnd=133624881227970000&format=webp)
Hitachi Energy doubles clean energy investment with $4.5b funding by 2027
![CSIS Thumbnail](/media/o0acqjyg/csis_thumbnail.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133566075809700000&format=webp)
CSIS: long-term LNG demand to reshape global export capacity growth
![Dr Carole Nakhle Thumbnail](/media/gqrpjths/dr-carole-nakhle_thumbnail.png?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133542056370600000&format=webp)
More women in energy vital to the industry’s success
![Vandana Hari Thumbnail](/media/gz3dyktl/vandana-hari-thumbnail.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133511540022930000&format=webp)
India’s energy sector presents lucrative opportunities for global companies
![OIL INDIA Thumbnail (1)](/media/oddlww2x/oil-india-thumbnail-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133506537128730000&format=webp)
Oil India charts the course to ambitious energy growth
![DNV Thumbnail](/media/chkphnjn/dnv-thumbnail.png?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133491856590700000&format=webp)
Maritime sector is stepping up to the challenges of decarbonisation
Partner content
![Navigating the trading seas: exploring the significance of benchmarks-1859882229](/media/qlacaiww/navigating-the-trading-seas-exploring-the-significance-of-benchmarks-1859882229.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133613577584600000&format=webp)
Navigating the trading seas: exploring the significance of benchmarks
![New Lng Ship Web 17829](/media/vjrjyypa/new-lng-ship-web-17829.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133179936218300000&format=webp)
Back to the Future(s): the best commodities benchmarks are still physically settled
![Dr Klaus](/media/4eyh2dr0/dr-klaus.jpg?center=0.3953747239980292,0.50683017007953435&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133517897092430000&format=webp)
Ebara Elliott Energy offers a range of products for a sustainable energy economy
![ESSAR](/media/5uafghtj/essar.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133524466961070000&format=webp)
Essar outlines how its CBM contribution is bolstering for India’s energy landscape
![HNC 7611 V2](/media/0dqbya15/hnc_7611_v2.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=540&height=300&rnd=133517899616530000&format=webp)